


brothers:):

by juliaoutlaw



Category: DreamSMP, dream - Fandom, tubbo - Fandom
Genre: Brothers, Clay | Dream and Toby Smith | Tubbo are Siblings, Family, Multi, Toby Smith | Tubbo-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:47:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 14,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28814397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juliaoutlaw/pseuds/juliaoutlaw
Summary: Tubbo and Dream were both very quiet about their personal lives. That has to change. A dream changes everything. Brothers, lost and then found.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Toby Smith | Tubbo, None
Comments: 37
Kudos: 218





	1. inspiration for this story.

hey guys! the fanart i used to inspire this story heres the credsss!!

creds: fuckgogy on twitter


	2. inspiration for this story.

chapter notes: these chapters will also be very short compared to some other fanfics!!! this story is NOT meant to ship any ccs. This chapter helps you gain a better and deeper understanding of Tommy and Tubbo's friendship and I just don't want anyone to think I am shipping them because I certainly am not. ALSO: the book is going to switch between Tubbo and Dreams third person view. There is no order I'm just gonna switch whenever I feel is necessary to do so. Enjoy this chapter!! I will try to post a new chapter every few days!! i will never go a week without posting unless i have a reason to and i will inform you if i do!

"Tubbo?" "Hello?" Tommy said. 

Tubbo's eyes snapped open. He'd been doing it again. "Hey what's been up with you lately?" Tommy asked. "It's like you're here but you're not." "Sorry." Tubbo sheepishly replied. "I haven't been sleeping well" 

He just lied. It left a disgusting taste in his mouth. How could he lie to his best friend? And so easily? He knew Tommy could tell it was a lie. That made him feel even worse. Their eyes met. 

"Hey, uh, can we get out of here?" "Yes." Tubbo said.

They walked in silence until they got to Tommy's car. "Tubbo, I know that's not why you zoned out today." "And I know you've been zoning out a lot recently." 

Tubbo felt his stomach flutter though he didn't know why, he knew this was coming. "Can we go to our spot, please? I'd feel better talking there." Tommy gave him a weird expression until he saw Tubbo was serious. His expression softened along with his tone. "Yeah, of course big man." That made Tubbo smile. 

Tommy was great at cheering people up. He may act all funny and serious on stream, but he's great at making people feel welcome, and happy.

As they drove down the highway, Tommy kept nervously looking over at Tubbo. 

The tension was too much. Tubbo grabbed the aux cord without asking, he knew it would surprise Tommy because he never asked to have it. Tubbo scrolled through his playlist looking for the song. He finally found it and pressed 'play'. 

The song 'I'm in love with an E-girl' by Wilbur Soot started playing.

Tommy pauses for a moment and looks over at Tubbo and slowly says "Are you really playing WILBURS MUSIC RIGHT NOW?!" Tubbo can't help but to burst out laughing. He knew this would calm the tension. 

"We're here." Tommy said a little too quietly. That flutter came back to his stomach.

Once they were both settled in on their classic picnic blanket, Tommy and Tubbo both let out a sigh.

"Do you remember when we first met Tubbo?" Tommy asked. 

"Uh duh. It was right over there." Tubbo pointed a couple hundred feet ahead of them. "Yeah. Right there." Tommy smiled. "Y'know Tubbo, from the moment I met you, I could tell you were going to be my best friend. I knew I could trust you with anything." "And to think, there could be another universe where we don't know each other is crazy. That world must suck." Tommy paused so Tubbo assumed it was his turn to reply. 

"Yeah, they're probably boring." Tommy and Tubbo shared a laugh.

"Tubbo, my point was that I can trust you. And I really hope you can trust me." "Tommy, you know I trust you." Tubbo said, a little hurt that Tommy really thought he wasn't trustworthy enough. 

"This is just a really personal family thing. No one knows. I don't even think my mom knows that I know." Tommy replied with a simple "Oh". "Yeah it's kind of a long story." "We have time." Tommy said back, his voiced filled with confusion.


	3. chapter 2

Dreams eyes slowly start to open as the hot, Florida sun rises. He can feel the heat through the blinds. 

When Dream looks over the picture, or half picture, is still there.

Just like always. 

The half picture is a picture of his face. The other half was missing, but Dream knew who it belonged to. 

Recently, things are different. He feels that dark cloud of his younger brother looming over him more than the usual.

His brother was so close but so far away. 

The 'what if' and 'why' questions constantly popped up in his head. "What if Dad didn't leave?" "Why did he only take me?" "Why didn't he take both of us or neither of us?" "How different would life be if Tubbo and I were raised together?" 

These thoughts were always looming in the back of his mind but now that he could have his brother back with a few button clicks, they were always there.

Dream went through his daily routine, half asleep. He made breakfast, played with his cat, wondering what him and Tubbo would have been doing right now if they had grown up together, you know, the usual. 

His phone buzzed and he looked over at it. 

It was a message from George.

'hey we're streaming early today. wanna join?' 

he replied with a 

'sure' and a 'whos gonna be on?' 

George responded with 'tommy, tubbo, wilbur and us. hurry we're playing among us and the children dont wanna keep waiting lol' 

Dreams stomach dropped when he saw Tubbo's name. 

He knew he would have to lie again. To his own brother. 

He typed a quick "coming" and joined the server. 

They played a few quick rounds. Tommy was yelling, as usual. George and Dream once got imposters together, that round was too chaotic they got caught within a minute.

Dream was thankful for a distraction even though the thing he needed a distraction from was in his headset, in his ear.

After a few rounds, Dream decided to go. 

He needed a break. 

He got on his phone to see what everyone else was doing. 

After a few hours of scrolling, he saw tommyinnit's face on his screen. He clicked on his profile and saw 3 new videos. 

The first was a video of Tommy and Tubbo eating at some bar. They ate their favorite foods.

Pizza and ribs.

Sometimes Dream wondered how they get along? They're so different.

The second video was a video of Tommy taken by Tubbo of them listening to Wilburs song. Dream knew that Tommy didn't take that well. He chuckled a little.

The third video was a video of them with sunglasses on bopping their heads to some old 80's song. They both had a hand out of their window.

Dream checked the comments on that video. They were mostly comments about how it looks weird to have the driver on the other side. 

Some comments were about the song and others about the glasses.

But all that mattered to him was that he was happy.

Tubbo never knew Dream. At least not enough to remember him. But Dream surely remembered Tubbo.

He was the happiest kid. He would go out and make friends with anyone. Dream had always envied that quality of Tubbo's.

Then their Dad had to go screw everything up.


	4. chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> yeah, my writing gets better just wait

"We have time." Tommy said back, his voiced filled with confusion.

"Okay, don't look at me until I'm done talking. It might make me too nervous." Tubbo replied. 

Tubbo started the story. "My mom told me that a while ago she was married to someone other than my step-dad. I knew this of course but I didn't know what she told me next." Tubbo took a deep breath.

"My biological dad was a bad guy I guess. She only told me that. But, later that day I found something. Something that changed my view on everything."

" It was a picture, well, half of a picture. The half I had was me. The other part, the missing part, was of another boy. One much taller."

"I didn't think anything of it until I turned it over"

' c and t , brothers '

"It was me and my brother. One that I didn't even know I had."

"Well did you ask your mom who it was?" Tommy asked.

"No. I knew she didn't want me to know who it was. But this explained everything. Why I never met my dad. Why my mom didn't talk about how I don't look anything like her. So i guess i look like my dad. I wonder if I'll ever see him, talk to him, or hug him."

"He might just want nothing to do with me. Maybe I'm the reason he left."

"No, no, no Tubbo I know he didn't leave because of you. You're an amazing person. If he can't or couldn't see that, he's blind. Trust me."

This cheered Tubbo up a little bit. He was still upset but he knew this would pass over, it always does. Plus having Tommy here helps.

"Wanna go get ice cream?" Tommy asks, trying to cheer him up.

"I thought you'd never ask." Tubbo says, voice filled with relief.

10 minutes later

"Chocolate please!" Tubbo tells the server. "Oh! and rainbow sprinkles please!"

Tommy chuckles to himself. "Can I get vanilla please?" Tommy pauses. "Rainbow sprinkles as well please."

They sit down and Tubbo feels the need to ask "I thought you hated sprinkles, why'd you get them?" "Because, I thought I'd give them a try cause you love them so they have to be somewhat good. Y'know?"

"I guess. I mean, I do have better taste in women so maybe I have better taste in ice cream too..."

"Now Tubbo, I never said that. You know I love all women."

Tubbo pauses for a moment and looks over at Tommy. He sees Tommy suppress a smile. "I do love all women and hate all men. Except me, of course."

This causes the pair to laugh until they can't breath. As they're trying to regain their breath, Tommy says "And you, I suppose"

This causes them to laugh even harder.

After they are done laughing and have calmed themselves down, Tubbo stands up and look at Tommy and says "Lets go home, we can stream together at my house."


	5. chapter 4

Dream threw his phone back on his bed. His eyes were getting tired.

He felt Patches scratch at his leg, obviously wanting something.

"What do you want girl? Are you hungry? I just fed you." Dream said

Patches answered with more pawing. Dream rolled his eyes and got up to refill her food bowl. He murmured under his breath "god you're getting chunky Patches." She looked up slowly as if she understood what he said.

Dream refilled her food bowl and went back to his room. He picked his phone back and saw 3 missed messages from Sapnap and George.

"hey we're gonna stream later, still wanna do that manhunt?" Sapnap texted their 'Dream Team' groupchat. "you got off of the stream quickly today. is everything okay?"

"yeah im good. patches was just bothering me. and yeah we can stream later, if you still wanna lose..." Dream replied

"oh it is SO on." George texted. Sapnap replied with a "^"

Dream laughed to himself. It was almost like he had forgotten about Tubbo. But then....

Tubbo is live: 'TOMMYINNIT STREAMING FROM MY HOUSE AGAIN?!?!? JOIN NOW'

Dreams face froze. He joined the stream and commented a quick "Minors, they think they're so cool." He saw as everyone realized and started saying "DRE!?!?" "WHY IS DRE HERE SO QUICK?!?!

Dream rolled his eyes. Then laughed. His fandom always insisted on calling his anything other than Dream. He was just glad they didn't call him 'pissbaby' anymore. Then he heard Tommy say "WHY IS PISSBABY HERE?"

And just like that the chat filled with "PISSBABY"

Dream decided right there to never jinx anything like that again. 

He stayed on the stream for a while. Tommy and Tubbo had a way about them that just makes you happy just listening to them."

He checked the time '3:56'

His stomach suddenly rumbled, letting his know he was hungry. He went out to his favorite sushi place and picked up his favorite roll for a late lunch.

When he got back it was almost time for the manhunt. He texted the groupchat. "you guys ready to lose? hop on minecraft and discord"

Sapnap replied "yeah im getting on now" George said "me too. and i wouldnt be too confident if i were you clay"

Dream smiled and joined their discord.

The manhunt lasted an hour and surprisingly, Dream won. He stayed up most of the night to edit the video. When the video was finished he fell back on his bed and fell asleep right away.


	6. chapter 5

chapter notes: going to try to make this longer so thank you all for your patients and reading!!

Tubbo finally got the text from Tommy. "Hey I'm home now" 

Tubbo let out a sigh of relief. It had been two hours and their houses were only an hour away from each other. He thought something had happened. 

"Okay. I'm tired so I'm going to bed. Night." Tubbo replied. He then plugged in his phone and shut it off, hoping to not get distracted by anything else.

He pulled out the picture of him and his mystery brother.

'knock knock' "Hey Toby can I come in?" His mom asked.

Tubbo put the picture away as fast as he could. "Sure!" He answered, trying not to sound upset. That didn't work.

"I know you miss him." Tubbo's heart dropped to his stomach. Did she know that he knew about his brother. How could she know that he missed someone he's never met?

"W-What?" He stuttered. 

"Toby, I know you miss him."

Tubbo felt as if the weight of the world had just been lifted from his chest. "Yeah, I miss him." 

"Well maybe you guys can see each other again soon. It's a pretty long drive but I think you guys can handle it."

"Mom, it's just an hour. Maybe we can hang out later this week?" He asked, hoping she would say yes.

"Doesn't he have school? And you do too. So maybe this weekend." That wasn't the answer he was hoping for. 

"Okay. Love you mom. Night."

"Love you too Toby."

his dream

Tubbo was in a big white room with only his bed in the dead center of the room. He got out of bed and walked to the door that somehow appeared in the middle of the room. He walked out onto a huge body of water. 'Wait. I'm walking on water. Omg I have to tell Tommy about this. I'm literally Jesus.' All of a sudden his house appeared in front of him. There were 3 people outside of his house. A boy who looked around 10, an older lady, his mom, and an older man, one he had never seen before.

'Christopher you can't just leave! We have two kids!' He heard his mom cry out.

'I'll take Clay. The other boy is scared of me.' The old man, Christopher, said.

'I wonder why..' His mother said. The older man walked towards her. 'Stay away from me.' His mom warned. He listened shockingly.

'Clay? That's dreams name.' As soon as he thought about that the older boy looked up at him. 

'Toby go inside. We can play cards later.' Clay said.

Tubbo tried to go inside. He didn't want to watch this. But the more he tried to move farther, the farther away he got. He tried running. It didn't work. he kept running and running but it didn't work. His heart raced faster and faster as he was trying to get to his brother. 'My brother. I need to see my brother. I need to know what he looked like.'

early the next morning

Tubbo sat up in his bed fast. His dream was getting a little too realistic. He was glad it ended.

He got out of bed and turned his phone on. The apple icon lit up his whole face.

This is when he realized how early in the morning it must've been. Once his phone turned on, the time popped up.

3:33 am

'How?' Tubbo thought to himself. 'That felt like it lasted a lifetime.'

Tubbo texted Tommy hoping he was still awake. Then he remembered what day it was.It was early morning Wednesday. Tommy had college today. So did Tubbo.

Tubbo tried and tried to fall back asleep but nothing worked. He finally went to the kitchen to make some tea. That usually makes him fall asleep.

He went on autopilot as he made the tea. When he was done he went back to his room and watched Tommy's new video while drinking the tea.

He felt himself slowly getting more tired. He plugged in his phone and but away his glass.

When he got back to his room, he fell down on the bed and instantly fell asleep.

later that morning

"Toby! Get up!" Lani called from the kitchen.

Tubbo crawled out of bed, not thinking about his dream that night.

Then it hit him.

He groaned and called back "I'll be there in a few minutes." He checked his phone. The time was 7:48. He had 12 minutes to get ready. They had to leave at 8 to get to his school at 8:30.

Tubbo got dresses fast. He grabbed a mask and went to grab a quick breakfast. He made himself a bagel with cream cheese. 

As he got in the car he realized he didn't have his phone. He went back to get in. When he got back in the car his mom looked at his weirdly.

'"Did you forget your phone? You always have that thing attached to you."

"Yeah I forgot it but I'm just glad I remembered before we got too far." He answered quickly, hoping she wouldn't ask how much sleep he got. 

Whenever anything out of line happens thats the only thing his mom asked. She tries to find a reason to take his phone at night. She thinks he's on it all night but Tubbo wishes she would realize he's almost never on it. 

He looked at his phone and saw 3 new messages from Tommy.

'i wasnt then but i am now'

'u good? that was sent late.'

'i have to go to class. ttyl big man'

The last one was sent only 3 minutes ago.

Tubbo replied and said. 'yeah im good, just a bad dream. text me when you get a break and ill do the same.'

He clicked his phone off and saw they were almost there. He told his mom to drop his off at the front. Once Tubbo was out of the car he got another notification. It was from Dream. 

'hey you okay? i saw you were on insta late last night just wanted to check up on you.'

Tubbo thought to himself. 'I wish he were my brother.'

He answered Dream and said 'yeah im good! thanks for checking in:)'

Tubbo put on his mask and went to class.


	7. chapter 6

The next morning Dream woke up only to realize he hadn't posted the video. His day was not off to a good start.

He posted the video and checked his social medias.

On tiktok he saw more tiktoks about a fanfic named Heat Waves. 'If i see one more video about this book i might have to read it my god' He thought to himself. 

He checked Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Twitch. He saw that BadBoyHalo and Skeppy streamed last night. He checked it out but only watched for a few minutes before Patches started annoying him.

"God Patches right when it was getting good." She looked up at him with a look that said 'Clay, do you think I care."

Dream was almost sure that she was a Leo like he was. She had way too much of a god complex.

He fed her and decided to go make some breakfast. While his food was cooling down he checked his phone. He had a DM from Tubbo.

'yeah im good! thanks for checking in:)' Was what he last sent. He had noticed late last night that Tubbo was on Instagram late. He was worried maybe something happened even though he had no reason to believe so.

He just cared about him. He just wanted him to be okay.

Dream shook himself out of this pity session. He had to remind himself that Tubbo didn't need to know about him. It would be too much.

Dream checked his phone and saw a message that came through a few minutes ago.

'hey youve seemed off lately. whats wrong?' Sapnap said.

'yeah, you can talk to us clay.' George added.

Dream sighed. He knew they wouldn't lay off once they used his real name. "yeah somethings up, but its okay. it cant be fixed.'

'shit' He thought to himself. 'That was probably the most stupid answer you could have come up with.'

He went back to watching the stream. Once it had finished he realized how long it was.

3 Hours and 31 minutes.

Dream's phone was almost dead. He didn't even realize how long he had been on it. He plugged it in and went to his computer. 

He saw that Tommy was streaming and it was time to role play again. He hopped on the server and played for a while.

It was his favorite part about the server. The role plays. 

Dream's stomach rumbled and he noticed he hadn't eaten today. It was already 2 pm.

He chose to get off of the server and went to get some food. He got in his car and went to pick up some stuff from the grocery store.

While he was driving the song 'Heat Waves' by Glass Animals came on the radio. Dream burst out laughing and turned to pick up his phone and take a quick picture.

'look what came on in the car today...' He sent to George.

'you melt me' George sent back as a joke.

He finally got to the store and put on his mask. He got everything he needed and got to the cashier. 

"Thanks...uh Chris" He said searching for his name tag. He met the cashiers eyes. They felt strangely familar. 

Then it hit him.

"Clay?" Chris asked.

"Dad?


	8. chapter 7

Tubbo got home from college around 3 pm. All day his dream from the night before had been bugging him.

Once he got home, he took a shower and got some food. Worrying so much had caused him to get hungry. He hadn't noticed how hungry he was until he sat down with the food.

He ate his whole plate of food within minutes. When he looked up from his plate he saw Lani staring at him, eyes wide with confusion.

"Uh, Toby, are you alright?" She asked carefully. 

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" He asked.

"No reason..." She replied. "No reason at all."

She turned around and walked out of the kitchen. She stopped to turn around at him. Her face was filled with confusion. Lani turned back around and went upstairs.

Tubbo ignored her and put his plate away. He grabbed his school bag and headed upstairs. 

His homework was easy. It only took 25 minutes or so. Once his homework was completed he walked over to his set-up and got on discord.

He saw Tommy was active and he remembered what he had been wanting to tell him.

"my dream.' He thought to himself. 

He joined a call with Tommy and braced himself for the yelling.

"HEY TUBBO WELCOME BACK FROM PRISON!" Tommy joked. 

Tubbo instantly filled with relief. He felt like his body had let go of a huge weight. A smiled took over.

"Hey Tommy! I'm back, yes, but if I'm not mistaken, you had college today as well, didn't you? How'd that go?" 

Tubbo knew that college was once of Tommy's least favorite places. Mostly because they couldn't talk to each other.

Him and Tommy talked for a few minutes. Just chatting about what happened in their days, whether or not they would stream, and etc.

"Okay but on a real note, I need to talk to you about something." Tubbo said.

The mood in the called dropped. The silence was so loud. Tommy finally spoke up and asked what was up.

Tubbo told him about his dream. He added a joke here and there, trying to lighten the mood. once he finished telling the story he sat back in his chair.

"Well that's some weird shit Toby. Why did you dream about Dream?" Tommy asked.

"No idea. Maybe it's because of that picture. You know I've always thought of Dream as a big brother. Maybe that has something to do with it." Tubbo said, looking for some explanation for his bizarre dream.

"Maybe you should tell him. It might make you feel better. Might lift that weight off of your chest." Tommy suggested.

"I think you're right. It was really weird. Maybe he'll get a laugh out of it." Tubbo said.

The two talked for a couple more hours on their private call.

Tommy decided to start streaming and Tubbo wished him good luck on his stream and left discord. He grabbed his phone and opened Instagram. He went to his dm's and searched Dreams name.

"Hey I have a funny story. I actually had a dream about you." He sent. He waited for a reply.


	9. chapter 8

"Dad?" Dreams words hung in the air.

He hadn't seen his dad ever since he got his own place. Drista always came over to his house. Never the other way around. Dream thought that maybe a part of him hadn't forgiven him for not fighting harder for mom.

Hid dads eyes looked the same as always. Tired. Green. No expression. The similarities he had with his dad stopped at their green eyes. Dream was much more enthusiastic. He fought for things he wanted. His dad didn't.

"I haven't seen you in so long," His dad said. "You've grown."

It was true. He had grown a few inches since he moved out when he was 18. Dream hadn't felt guilty about leaving him. Only about leaving Drista.

She didn't know that they were only half siblings. Dream couldn't bring himself to ever tell her.

"Yeah. How's {insert dristas name cause we dk it and im not gonna guess or use a random name}?" He asked, trying to make small talk.

"Oh she's alright. She misses you." He said as he started to fill his cart with the bags.

"Yeah." Dream said quietly. He started thinking about Tubbo, and how he would feel if he knew about how Lani and Teagan weren't his only siblings.

"Why don't you come over for dinner tonight. I'm sure her and Cassie would love to see you." His dad said.

Dream winced when he said Cassie's name. She was awful. He hated that he had left Drista with her. Even if that was her mom. Didn't make her any less of a bitch.

"Uh, yeah sure. I'll be there around 5:30." He said without thinking.

Dream rolled his cart out to his car, mumbling to himself.

"why would you say yes? that was stupid of you. so stupid. maybe you can ask about mom. no not there. ugh. why did i say yes?"

Dream started remembering things from his past. The fights. His dad drunk. 

Dream saw himself holding Tubbo, making sure he didn't hear what words shot out of their parents mouths.

He saw himself packing up his stuff at his old house. Watching Tubbo's face as he pulled out of their driveway.

Then he remembered finding him again. He immediately asked him to join the server. He remembered watching the excitement on his face. He had made his brother happy. That's all he wanted.

Dream snapped back into reality and noticed he was just standing outside of his car, looking blankly ahead. He got his groceries in the car and got in. He groaned and sat his head on the steering wheel.

He started driving back home.

'well that was eventful.' He thought to himself.

Once he got home he started putting away the food. Once he was done, he checked his phone. It was already 4:45.

Dream texted Drista, asking for their address.

'omg are you coming over? please tell me you are. i wanna show you my room. i got it redone pls tell me ur coming over.' she replied.

He paused for a minute and thought about what he would reply with.

His phone buzzed again.

'u have reads on idiot, ik u saw that🙄" She sent.

Dream chuckled and replied with a 'just give me the address dris'

Ever since that one stream with Tommy, he had been mostly calling her Drista or some form of that.

She sent him the address and told him he better be coming over. Dream smiled.

He checked the distance from his house to theirs.

27 minutes

'Eh not too bad.' He thought to himself. He calculated that he should leave in about 15 minutes. He didn't want to show up on time. He wanted to be a little late. He didn't want to seem too eager. Cause he wasn't.

Dream put on some jeans and a flannel. Nothing too fancy.

"God, I should take a Xanax." He thought out loud.

He got in the car and called George and Sapnap.

"What's up?" Sap asked.

"I'm going to my Dad's house." He paused. "Yup."

"Huh? How did that even happen, Clay?" George asked.

"He bagged my food at Publix. Then he invited me for dinner. And I said yes."

"Well, shit." Sapnap said. "Is {dristas name} gonna be there?"

"Yeah, luckily." Dream answered.

The three talked until he got to the house. They wished him good luck. Dream said bye and hung up.

He walked up to the door. He hesitantly knocked on the door.

Drista answered.

"Clay!" She wrapped her arms around him. She quickly let go and pushed him back. "Why didn't you say yes or no to my question? You had me nervous, DREAM" She said, taunting me.

He smiled. "Missed you too."

"You saw me 5 days ago." Drista said, dryly. She couldn't keep up her cold act much longer.

She hugged him again and showed him in. Dream's phone buzzed but he ignored it. It was probably Sapnap and George asking for an update.

Drista showed him around. About 30 minutes later, they sat down to eat. Dinner was nice. So was Cassie, surprisingly. Once dinner was over, he and Drista did the dishes. They caught up and talked about the normal stuff.

Dream was sad to leave her again.

"Hey, come over later this week." He said. "We could stream or just hang out.

"Sure!" She said. 

He knew she was excited that he had come home.

Once he got in the car, he turned his phone on to see what he missed. He saw a message from Tubbo on instagram.

It read, "Hey I have a funny story. I actually had a dream about you"

"What was it about?" Dream sent.


	10. chapter 9

"Hey I have a funny story. I actually had a dream about you." He sent. He waited for a reply.

And waited.

After a few hours, Tubbo got a response.

"What was it about?" Dream replied. 

'god that took a while' Tubbo thought to himself.

"It was really weird actually. I was running across water like I was Jesus or something. Then I came up to a house and saw my mom, a random guy, and someone named Clay." Tubbo sent.

Dream started typing almost immediately. "Oh. What did the Clay guy look like?"

Tubbo started typing slowly. He didn't want to pressure Dream into sending his face. "Like how you described yourself. Kinda weird."

"Well what else happened?" Dream sent.

"The older people were yelling. One guy -Christopher- said I was scared of him. He said he'll 'take' the other boy. Then Clay asked me to come inside. I started running but I couldn't get there." Tubbo replied. He was scared that maybe Dream would joke about it. But Tubbo was completely serious about this.

The three bubbles popped up. Then disappeared.

Tubbo waited a good 3 minutes until they popped up again. Tubbo felt his head getting hotter. His hands were shaking. He didn't know why this made him so nervous. Tommy said it would help. Tubbo sat his phone down in front of him. 

About 3 minutes later his phone buzzed on his desk in front of him. Tubbo had calmed down a bit. He reached for his phone and opened the message. 

"Tubbo I need to talk to you about something serious. But I cant do it over the phone, or on messages, or Facetime or anything. I need to talk to you in person about this." 

Tubbo felt weird. His brain started whirling. 'why does he need to see me?' He thought.

His hands were shaking again. He started replying.

"Why in-person? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. It's just serious. Too serious to type."

"Oh." He sent. Tubbo started to type more but stopped himself when Lani knocked on his door.

"Come in." He said quietly.

Lani walked in and shut the door after her after she saw his face.

"Jesus what is wrong with you? What has been going on with you lately, Toby?"

"I don't know Lani. I don't know." 

Lani stepped back when he raised his voice. He never raises his voice, at least not at her.

"Okay, fine. Mom wants your help with dinner. Just came to let you know." She walked out of the room.

Tubbos shoulders fell. He hated when he raised his voice. It made him feel...mean. It made him feel like someone he knew....he can't remember who. Tubbo went to the kitchen to apologize to Lani and to help his mom.

His sister was sitting at the table and his mom was waiting for him by the stove. He hesitantly walked up to Lani.

"Hey I'm sorry. I didn't mean to raise my voice." She looked up at him.

"Don't worry about it." She said dryly.

"Toby c'mon. Help me with dinner!" His mom called from the kitchen.

They were making salmon tonight. Tubbo's favorite. As his mom worked on the salad, he worked on making the sauce. Tubbo loved cooking. It helped him clear his mind.

While stirring the ingredients together, he thought about what had happened earlier in his conversation with Dream. Had Dream been hinting that he was going to come see him? What was so important that he needed to see him?

"What's on your mind, Toby?" His mom asked.

'shit' He thought to himself.

"Uh, nothing. Just a streamer thing." He chose that excuse on purpose. His mom almost never asked for more details on streaming.

"Tell me about it." His mom replied.

'god.'

Tubbo hated lying to his mom. But something felt off with Dream and everything. He had no choice.

"It's just that twitch has been acting up. Nothing much. It just sucks cause I love streaming and now I can barely get my streams started." Tubbo said.

"Okay yeah I don't understand any of that but I'm sorry about that." His mom laughed.

They finished up the dinner and ate as a family. They all talked about their days as Tubbo listened. That how it always went. They talked, he listened.

After dinner, he helped his dad clean up. They talked about when he could see Tommy again. His dad said maybe next weekend, which helped to lighten Tubbo's mood.

After the dishes were done, Tubbo went to get on Discord.

He and Tommy talked for a bit before Tubbo decided to tell him about the conversation with Dream.

"The hell?" Tommy said. "Do you think he's gonna like show up at your house or something?"

"No idea. I just want to know what he needs to tell me."

The two of them talked for 2 hours. 

"Hey, I'm gonna stream. Wanna be on?" Tommy asked.

"No thanks. Tell them I'll stream tomorrow." Tubbo told him.

"Okay. Talk to you later, Toby." Tommy left the call.

Tubbo sighed and walked to his bed. He sat down and ran his fingers through his hair.

"What the hell could possibly be this important?" He thought aloud.

He was tired of stressing out about this. He got into some sleeping clothes and got in bed. He scrolled on Instagram until he got tired. He plugged his phone in and went to sleep.

Then his dream started.


	11. chapter 10

"Oh no. I really just told him I need to see him. What the hell am I gonna do now?" Dream said to himself.

He got up and started pacing around his room. Tubbo and his conversation had ended by Tubbo saying 'Oh'. How the hell was Dream supposed to come back from that? He sat down, trying to calm himself. He needed to tell Tubbo eventually. It has to be soon. After that last conversation, Dream was sure things would be weird.

He called George and Sapnap on Discord to help calm his nerves.

George answered immediately while Sapnap took his sweet time and came in a few minutes later.

"What's up, Clay?" George asked.

He filled them in on everything. Once he started talking, everything came out. He told them about his dad leaving his mom and coming here, how Tubbo is his brother, how he screwed everything up and hadn't told him, and how he almost told him. Today. An hour ago. H talked and talked for a good 10 minutes.

"Woah, woah, slow down Clay." Sapnap interrupted. "So you're telling us that Tubbo is your brother and you haven't told him but you almost did today on Instagram?"

"Yeah. Pretty much."

"Holy shit Clay. Why haven't you told us?" George asked. "Or him? I mean, you're gonna tell him, right?"

Dream was quiet. He had hundreds of thoughts going through his mind. What would Tubbo think? Would he be mad? Would he be happy? These same questions ran through his head over and over again.

George interrupted his thoughts. "Clay! Dude, stop zoning out! This is important." 

"Uh, yeah. I'm gonna tell him. I don't know when. Or how. But I'm gonna tell him." Dream said.

George and Sapnap kept asking him questions about how it all happened. Dream answered the questions. But his mind was on another topic. 

He couldn't help but think about how maybe Dream was ruining Tubbo's life. He was only 16. He had this idea of how life was supposed to be. And soon, Dream would tell him something that would flip his world upside down.

"When did he make you leave?" Sapnap asked.

This question drew in Dream's full attention.

"When he was 5. I was 10." Dream answered. "He just left. He said that he would 'take me' and leave the other boy. We went to Florida. My dad got with some lady he met at his new job. He had {dristas name} 2 years later." Dream sighed. "It felt like he left them and never looked back. He completely moved on. It was like he forgot about Toby. That's why I left the minute I could afford to have my own place." Dream stumbled over his own words. "That's why I never came back."

The call fell silent. Dream could hear George and Sapnap try to respond. After a few minutes someone responded.

"Oh." It was George's voice. "Well, I think you should tell him. He deserves to know."

Dream's face fell. "I knew you would say that."

Sapnap also reassured him that he should tell Tubbo. Dream groaned and slid down in his chair.

"Fine. But I need to do it soon. I need to get it over with. Like peeling off a band-aid. But how can I tell him? He lives so far away." Dream asked. "And before you ask, yes. It has to be in person."

Sapnap started to say something. Dream cut him off.

"Yes. I know I just told you guys over Discord but he's different."

Sapnap stopped mid-sentence.

The three of them spent the next hour thinking of ways to tell Tubbo that he and Dream were brothers. And there was no easy way.

"What if you just said "Hey Toby we're brothers.'" George threw out. "You know, quick and easy."

Sapnap laughed. "You're not serious, right?"

The three laughed and discussed more ideas on how to tell Tubbo. They thought of every possible way to tell him. They all involved seeing him.

A crazy idea popped into Dream's head. He went to another tab without thinking it through.

"Clay what are you doing?" George asked.

He typed in what he was looking for. He pressed a few buttons. He clicked back to the Discord tab.

"George."

"Yes?"

The realization set in.

"I'm coming to your house in 2 weeks. And I'm going to tell Tubbo then."


	12. chapter 11

Tubbo sat on his bed, fidgeting with his phone. It had been a week and 2 days since he had his talk with Dream. 

He had the same dream every night since then. It was the same thing everytime.

He was running, trying to reach his brother.

Tubbo ran many ideas through his head over the past week. He wanted to know what Dream had to tell him. He wondered if he would ever know. His thoughts were interrupted when his mom knocked on his door.

"Toby? Time for school. Get up, please!"

Tubbo checked his phone. The time was 7:30. He had been up all night thinking about this. He didn't want to sleep. He didn't want to dream again.

Tubbo got up and got ready. He slowly walked over to his computer. Tubbo checked his discord.

*2 new messages*

His stomach flipped inside out. He felt his hands get clammy and beads of sweat form on his hairline. Tubbo closed his eyes and clicked on the notification.

It was from Tommy.

'oh thank god' He thought to himself.

'Good luck on your test today man!' Tommy had sent. 'Text me after school'

'oh shit shit shit i have a test' He thought.

Tubbo rushed to his backpack and checked to make sure he had his notes. If he didn't do well, he would be failing this class. That would mean he's grounded for a week.

Tubbo quickly scanned over his notes as he went to the car. His mom had started it and was waiting, patiently.

The whole way to school he read over them, trying to memorize them.

"Bye, Toby! Good luck today!" His mom called.

"Thanks. Love you." Tubbo walked to his class.

after school

"I 100% failed that test" Tubbo sat down in his chair. He had just gotten home from school and decided to call Tommy.

"Well you don't know that! How many were you confident about?" Tommy asked.

"None. Absolutely none."

"Oh. Well then yeah. You probably failed." Tommy decided."How long would you be grounded for?"

"A week. I'll just have my phone taken. They can't take my computer. I don't know if I could stream though." Tubbo said.

"Oh, that sucks. I'm praying for your sake that you passed." Tommy said. 

"Yeah me too. I gotta go now though, I have homework." Tubbo told him.

"Okay, okay. Text me when you can!" Tommy hung up first.

Tubbo got out his work that he had for today. 

"Just a few sheets. That's fine." He thought aloud.

After an hour he had finished the work and was setting up his stream. He planned to stream just incase he couldn't for a week. Tubbo texted Tommy asking if he wanted to stream together.

'sure. one min' Tommy replied.

ding

Tubbo looked up and saw he had gotten a new email from his school. It was his grade.

Tubbo braced himself for a bad grade. He opened the email.

"Shit."

He failed the test.

'i failed the test. lets stream before my mom finds out.' Tubbo sent quickly.

Tommy and Tubbo streamed for an hour before the text came in.

'Bring your phone down after your stream.' His mom sent.

'aw shit.' He thought to himself.

The boys had already been streaming for a few minutes. He couldn't end it yet. He told Tommy what his mom said on discord. Tommy said they should stream for an hour, the usual time. So that's what they did.

The hour seemed to pass in a few minutes. Tubbo ended the stream and leaned back in his chair.

ding

This time it was a text from his mom.

"Phone. Now."

Tubbo's stomach filled with butterflies. He sighed and walked to his door as slow as he could. he walked down the stairs even slower. Once he got down, his parents were waiting at the kitchen table. His dad had a stern look that reminded Tubbo of someone he once knew. He couldn't quite place his finger on who, but the look made him uneasy.

"36%. Toby. Hand over your phone now." His dad said.

Tubbo's face fell. He hated disappointing his parents. He felt like he had to please them. 

"What the hell happened?" His mom asked.

Tubbo explained that he hadn't been sleeping well. He didn't go into detail but he explained he had some bad dreams. That seemed to make his parents a little more sympathetic.

"We're still taking your phone. But only until Wednesday, when you have to go back to school. Go back upstairs. And do not get on your computer. We'll check." His mom told him.

Tubbo went upstairs and sat on his bed. he was tempted to check discord and tell Tommy about his punishment, but he knew his parents would check. So he controlled himself. He heard a few dings go off but he didn't check them.

He looked around and tried to find something to do. It was like a prison in there. All he could do was....read. Tubbo rolled his eyes and picked out a book.

There were 4 more notifications from his Discord. He muted it so it wouldn't tease him.

Tubbo opened his book and started reading.


	13. chapter 12

Dream stared into his closet, trying to pack. He was nervous. And excited. And nervous again. He couldn't believe he actually bought plane tickets. In the middle of a pandemic.

"I have to get tested. Aw shit I forgot about getting tested!" Dream thought aloud.

He left to England in 5 days. He had to get tested in 4 so he could still go. He checked all of the available days to test. Almost nowhere was available. Dream found some sketchy place that offered testing. Dream sighed and put in the directions to this place. 14 minutes away.

Once he got an appointment set up, he went back to his closet.

Dream had picked out 3 outfits. He needed 4 more. George convinced him to stay longer than a weekend, like he was planning on. George told him he should stay a whole week, he said it would be good to spend more time with Tubbo. Dream hated to admit it, but George was right.

He couldn't just say something as heavy as 'You're my brother' and then just leave. He couldn't be like his dad.

For the past 9 days, Dream had been worrying about what to say to Tubbo when he saw him. I mean sure, they came up with a few things, but Dream knew that he would forget and ramble on and on.

These thought swam around his brain for a while, and for a minute, Dream forgot he was supposed to be packing.

Dream paced around his room and randomly grabbed some clothes and put them in his suitcase. He told himself to not worrying about fashion.

He walked over to his desk. Dream sighed and messaged Tubbo on Discord.

'hey, sorry for being so weird the other day'

'i hope i didnt freak you out or anything'

'i get it if youre upset but dont worry, its nothing too bad.'

'i get it if youre mad, just know im sorry.'

Dream actually get why he would be mad, but he thought it might make him feel better. He waited and waited for a response. Nothing. He waited a few more minutes.

Still nothing.

Dream slouched in his chair. He thought about all of the possible reasons that Tubbo wouldn't be answering him. No solution seemed right. He checked his phone and looked up 'time in england'.

5 pm.

There was no reason that he shouldn't be answering. Dream tried to convince himself that maybe he was busy, or with his family. But he saw that he went live 9 minutes ago. Dreams stomach sank to the floor. Tubbo was ignoring him.

Dream checked Discord. George and Sapnap were on, playing Among Us. Sapnap had just started to stream, so Dream knew it would be a while until they could talk. Dream aimlessly looked around his room for something to do until his friends were available. 

He found a book to read. Dream scoffed when he realized what book it was.

The Notebook.

Dream opened the book and read.

Around 2 hours later, Dream woke up suddenly. He got a notification from Discord.

"dreeeaaammmm helloooooo" and "we've been trying to call you for hours pleaseeee pick upppp" were the most recent messages. The other 15 or so were them just asking where he was or why he wasn't answering.

"hey, im here. sorry i was reading and fell asleep" Dream sent.

"READING?!?!?!" Sapnap replied. "i didnt know u could read."

Dream rolled his eyes and replied with a "k."

That got both George and Sapnap riled up. They hated when Dream answered shortly, and he knew this. Dream lets them keep yelling at him for a few minutes until he got serious.

"5 days." He sent.

Sapnap and George stopped typing.

George was the first to break the silence. "so are you saying i need to clean my house?"

"maybe. but im also saying that i have to tell tubbo im his brother in 5 days."

"well shit, just point out the obvious" Sapnap sent.

Dream couldn't help but laugh. Sapnap always knew how to brighten the mood, and he was thankful for that. 

Dream told them how he had been feeling, that he was scared. They tried to comfort him as best as they could but it didn't take away his nerves. During the conversation, Dream had started to get tired.

"im getting tired, ill sleep this over and get back to you later" He sent. Dream turned off his computer and rolled into bed.

He sighed and closed his eyes.


	14. chapter 13

Tubbo opened his eyes and rolled over. His clock read 12:00. He reached for his phone without thinking. Tubbo quickly came to his senses and remembered that his phone wasn't with him. It was Tuesday, 4 days since he had gotten it taken away. 

'thank god' he thought to himself. 

Tubbo got up and did his usual routine. He got dressed, cleaned his room, watered his plants and read. 

Reading was a new addition to his routine, as of this week. He had been reading the Harry Potter series over again and was on the third book. It surprised him how much he could read when he had nothing else to do.

"Toby? You better be up or mom's gonna kill you!" Lani called from downstairs.

"Don't worry, I'll live to see another day!" He yelled back.

He looked back down and tried to find where he was. His eyes scanned the pages looking for familiarity. Once he found his place, he dove straight back into the story.

Tubbo started The Goblet of Fire. He had lost track of time and didn't realize how late it was until his mom came into his room.

"Hey, what are you reading?" She asked. She hadn't tried hard to his the surprise in her voice.

"Harry Potter." He replied quickly, wanting to get back to his book.

"Okay well you can come back to it after dinner. Come down" She said as she walked out of the room.

"Dinner?" Tubbo's attention was fully on his mom now. "What time is it?"

"5:30. Now come down, we're having pasta!" She walked down the stairs.

Tubbo was shocked. He had read the day away. Sure, he wasn't complaining, but it was surprising. The more he thought about it, the hungrier he got. Tubbo ran down the stairs and sat down for dinner.

Whike he was scarfing down his food, Tubbo saw Lani lean over and whisper something to his other sister, Teagan.

"He's doing it again." She said, just loud enough for him to hear. 

He looked up and gave her a look that said 'quiet. im not doing anything.'

Lani raised her arms in a way that said 'okay sorry man'

He got back to his food. Once he was finished, he wiped his face with a napkin and sat back in his chair.

"What have you been up to today, Toby?" His dad asked him. He was still in his work clothes so Tubbo assumed he had just gotten home.

"Reading." His mom answered for him. "He was up there all day reading."

His dad looked over at him, questioningly. "Reading? Not on your PC?"

"Yeah, I was reading. I have nothing better to do so.." His words carried into silence.

"What were you reading?" His dad asked.

Tubbo knew that his dad didn't believe him. He rarely ever did.

"Harry Potter. I started the 4th one today." He answered carefully. He didn't want to annoy his dad. Tubbo wasn't in the mood to argue.

"Oh, nice." His dad replied, and got back to eating.

Tubbo felt relieved. He had nothing to hide, but whenever he was talking to his Parents, he got nervous.

After dinner, Tubbo and Lani were on dish duty.

"What are you hiding?"

Tubbo started to say something but Lani cut him off.

"And don't say nothing. You wear your heart on your sleeve. Your emotions are so easy to read."

Tubbo fell silent. Lani was too good at reading people. He once mentioned that she should go on and word for the BAU when she gets older. She had made a remark about how she would never live in America.

"Hello? Earth to Toby?" She waved her hand in front of his face.

"Yeah, yeah I'm here. I'm fine, really. I just miss talking to Tommy." He said. He wasn't technically lying. He did miss Tommy. But thats not the main reason he was upset. He was worried about what Dream had said to him just a few days back. But Lani didn't need to know about that.

"Oh. Well you can talk to him tommorow! You get your phone privilege back." She said.

This helped raise his spirits. He had forgotten that he gets his phone back tomorrow.

"Yeah, I guess I do." He smiled at Lani.

They quietly worked together to finish the dishes.

Tubbo went up to his room once the dishes were done and showered. He hopped onto his bed and grabbed his book. 

The exchange with Lani had made him feel better. He could talk to Tommy tomorrow. And he could find out when Dream meant during their last conversation.

Time passed quickly as Tubbo was reading. He soon got tired and fell asleep with his book in his chest.

the next morning

Tubbo woke up with a start. He had that nightmare agin. Tubbo ran his fingers through his hair, trying to calm down. He looked over at his clock. It was time to start getting ready for school. He noticed something unusual on his desk. 

"My phone!" He yelled out loud.

Tubbo quickly typed out a message for Tommy. 

'got my phone back bitch' He pressed send.

Tubbo got up and got ready for school. He combed his hair, got dressed, gathered his books and put them in his bag. He cheerfully went downstairs and got some breakfast.

His dad looked at him quizzically. "You seem to be happy today."

"Yeah, I can talk to my friends again." He added a bit of harshness into his voice.

His dad smiled and looked back down at his laptop.

Tubbo finished his breakfast quickly and ran out to his moms car. She came out a few minutes later.

"Well someone is happy to go to school." She said.

"Nope. Just happy to talk to my friends. And to stream again." He told her.

"Okay, well lets get you to school."


	15. chapter 14

Dream lay wide awake in bed on Wednesday morning. Today was the day, he was going to see George and Tubbo today. When Dream's alarm went off, he got out of bed, not even tired. He had been awake all night, thinking. Thinking about what Tubbo would think. Thinking about how his mom was doing.

Dream walked over to his window. It was still dark out. He made himself coffee even though he wasn't tired. It was 5 am. Dream had to leave in 45 minutes if he wanted to make his flight. Dream sat down at his table. He felt uneasy. He felt like this was unreal. He had gotten his covid test yesterday and it came out negative. Dream had secretly been hoping that it would be positive so maybe he could back out of this stupid idea.

His coffee was gone in less than 10 minutes. He washed his dish and put it away. 

Late last night, he spent his time cleaning his house for two reasons. One- he wanted to delay sleeping. If he slept, the morning flight would be there sooner. Two- he had a feeling that this week was going to be stressful, and he was sure he wanted to come home to a clean house.

Dream walked back to his bedroom, trying to calculate what time it would be when he got to Brighton. 

"So if my flight is at 7:00 am, and its a 9 hour flight, it would be 6:00 pm here, which means it will be 11:00 there." He said to himself. "And Toby gets out of school at 2pm? Great. I can settle into George's house then go to Tubbo's in the morning...."

Dream had finished packing almost everything last night too. He got on some sweatpants and a sweatshirt for his flight. It was December now, and it might not have been cold in Florida, but it would be in England. He brushed his teeth and but it away. Dream gathered some jeans and a flannel into his carry on bag. He wanted to look at least decent when he saw his mom again for the first time in years.

He packed up his laptop in his carry on as well. He grabbed his chargers and stuffed them in there too. Dream hoisted the bag into his bag and gripped the handle on his suitcase. He turned off all of the lights in his house and left the note for Drista.

feed patches 2 times a day please. make sure her water is full too! i'll call every day. don't worry, i'll be back soon -clay

Dream finished the note and set it on the counter. He told his dad he was going out of town, but he didn't tell him where. His dad agreed to let Drista come over each day to feed Patches. Drista suggested that they take her for the week but Cassie didn't like that idea. 

'shes such a bitch' He said to himself when his sister told him that. But, they had worked out another plan, so it was okay.

Dream got in his car and turned it on. He drove to the airport, silently. The sound of his car on the road seemed to calm his nerves a bit. Once he got to the airport, time flew. He felt like he was moving 3x the speed of a normal person. He checked his bags, went though security, and before you know it he was in the air, flying.

Once time caught up to him, he felt tired. I should sleep, he thought, maybe this flight will go by faster.

Dream plugged headphones into his phone and found his playlist that he had downloaded for this trip specifically. He started to doze off while music was humming in his ears.

He woke up when a flight attendant tapped him on the shoulder.

"Would you like breakfast, sir?" Her voice was high pitched with a British accent. Dream thought she sounded like a mouse.

"Um, sure. The eggs please."

When he stopped talking he noticed her expression had changed. "You sound familiar. Hm. Eggs it is then!"

Dream was relieved to have his mask on. He was sure his face was bright red. He hated when people knew his voice and mentioned it in a large area. That had happened a few months ago when some little kid at a store said "Hey he sounds like Dream". Super embarrassing.

His food arrived a few minutes later. Dream scarfed it down as fast as he could. He was super tired and wanted to get some rest before he changes his life forever.

Dream for almost the whole flight. When he woke up, they were starting to land. But there was one problem. He had to use the bathroom. Once they landed, he turned his phone off of airplane mode. He had a new message from George.

'hey im waiting by terminal 3. text when youre almost there'

Dream smiled. No matter what hell he would go through later, he was still with his best friend. He grabbed his carry-o and waited in his chair for the line to leave to become less dense. Once the line cleared, he got off of the plane. The flight attendant was giving him a weird look. He shrugged. Nothing he could do about it.

Dream speed walked ( ha ha funny ) to terminal 3. Once he saw George, his walk turned into a run. 

"Hey! Happy to see me?" George asked.

"Dude, I have to piss, wheres the bathroom?"

George laughed. "Well okay. Uh, my house isn't far if you can hold it."

Dream nodded.

They drove back to Georges house. The ride was silent but Dreams ears were buzzing. Once they were inside, Dream started scanning the house for a bathroom.

"Second room on the right!" George called.

"Thanks!" He called back.

Once Dream got out of the bathroom, he got settled into George's guest room. It was late, and even thought he had slept the entire flight, Dream was tired.

"I'm tired, I'm going to bed." He told George.

George gave him a strange look. "Okay... well be up by 1 if you want to see your mom before you see Tubbo."

He smiled and thanked him for everything. He was lucky to have someone like George. Dream walked back to his room and fell asleep the minute he hit the bed.

the next morning

"Oh my god, Clay." George yelled. "Dude it's 12, wake up!"

Dream sat up and looked around. He sighed and fell back over. george pulled that sheets off of him and yell in his ear.

"Get. Up. Now."

Dream jumped and hit his head on Georges face.

"Jesus, George. That is not how you wake someone up." Dream said. "And by the way, you have a hard head literally and figuratively."

George scoffed. "Whatever. You have to get up. It almost time to leave for your Mom's."

Dream froze. For a minute, he had forgotten about why he was here. His stomach dropped to his feet. "Oh, yeah."

He quickly got dressed and rushed into George's kitchen. George handed him a piece of toast and motioned Dream to follow him out into the car. They rode in silence in the way to Tubbo's house. Dream had gotten a letter from his mom a few years back. He hoped she hadn't moved since then.

Georges car came to a stop. "Go get 'em, Clay."

Dream smiled and got out of the car. He walked up slowly and reached his hand out to knock. He pulled his hand away and checked the time. His phone read 13:45. 15 minutes until Tubbo got home.

Dream reached out his hand and knocked on the door.

His mom answered.

"Clay?"


	16. chapter 15

Tubbo got a ride home from his school friend today. His mom had a meeting that ended at 1:45 so he decided to not bother her with the chore of picking him up. Plus, he had a pretty good day at school and almost didn't want to go home. Tubbo had a good past 2 days actually. He had gotten his phone back yesterday morning and streamed that same night. He was able to talk to Tommy again. Tubbo tried to put the conversation he had with Dream into the back of his mind.

He was riding in the car, listening to music, having a good time. Tubbo's friend, Harry, was pretty cool. He liked minecraft as well, but somehow Harry didn't know that Tubbo had a platform on twitch.

He said bye to his friend, Harry, and walked up to his door.

He opened the door and saw his mom sitting at the table. There was someone across from her, and it wasn't his dad.

"Mom who's th-"

His stomach fell. It couldn't be..him.

"Toby, this is Clay." His mom stuttered. "Well you know him as Dream."

Tubbo was super confused now. He just thought that this guy was his brother from his dreams. He didn't think it was Dream. Something was off here. Dream couldn't be my brother, Tubbo thought.

"What's happening?" Tubbo asked, starting to get worried. "Tell me."

"Toby-" Tubbo cut her off.

"Do not 'Toby' me. Tell me what the hell is happening." He snapped. He felt regret instantly. He never yelled at his mom.

Tubbo didn't know why he was angry. All he knew was that his mom and Dream looked guilty of something. He wondered what they were hiding. Tubbo had an idea, but it was way too crazy. His mom glanced at Dream and nodded. She got up and left the two boys alone.

"Well, are you going to sit down?" Dream asked.

He sat. "Well, are you going to tell me why you are at my house? How do you even have my address?"

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you. Just give me a second. This isn't fun for me either."

"Don't play the victim, Clay. Just tell me what's going on. What are you hiding?" Tubbo snapped.

Dream's face fell. "I'm here to talk to you. I know you remember out talk that we had, I wanted to talk to you about what I was talking about that day. And mom - I mean your mom - sent me a letter a while back. I used the address from there. And that last question...I'll get to that."

Seeing the look on Dreams face made Tubbo feel bad for snapping at him. Then he remembered the anxiety and worry that Dream put him through after that conversation they had 2 weeks ago.

"I know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't play the victim. I might as well just say it, I guess." Dream said.

"Wait. Can I ask some more questions before you say whatever needs to be said?" Tubbo was stalling. He wanted to figure this out on his own.

Dream nodded.

"Okay, so, you said to me two weeks ago that you wanted to talk to me in person about something, right? After I told you about the dream I had?" Tubbo asked.

"Correct."

"Okay. Then you fly down here 2 weeks later and you knew my address somehow."

Dream nodded.

"Then you almost call my mom 'mom'?" Tubbo brain was trying to figure this out.

"Yeah I'm sorry I didn't mean to." Dream said quickly. 

A bit too quickly. It came so naturally for him too, Tubbo thought. Tubbo started connecting dots in his head. He thought back to his dream, and him and Clay's conversation, and to the picture.

The picture. 

Tubbo quickly excused himself from the table and ran upstairs. He rummaged through all of his things, searching for the picture. He found it, under a book. Tubbo grabbed it and flipped it around.

Then he knew.

Tubbo ran downstairs and sat back down, the picture gripped in his hand.

"Dream. One more question." Tubbo said. "Are you my brother?"

notes : oopsies


	17. chapter 16

Dream froze.

He was in shock. 

He didn't know what to say.

"W-what?" He asked.

Dream's hands were shaking. His breath grew short.

"I said," Tubbo's voice rang in Dream's ears, "Are you my brother?"

Oh god, Dream thought.

"Um, where did you get that from?" Dream decided that playing dumb was the best way to see how much Tubbo actually knew.

"Don't play dumb, Clay." Tubbo glared.

Well that won't work, Dream thought to himself.

"You know exactly where I 'got that from'." He paused. "My 'dream' wasn't much of a dream was it? It was more like...a memory. And on the phone you didn't try to hide it. Then, 2 weeks later, you show up at my house? And almost call my mother 'mom'?"

Dream started to reply, but Tubbo cut him off.

"And please, don't even get me started on your excuses for those things. 'I didn't mean to'" He said in a mocking tone. "I'm not stupid, Clay. How long were you planning on keeping this from me? Until I found out? Or...forever?"

Dream's heart was beating so hard, he worried that the whole house could hear. He hesitantly looked up at Tubbo, trying to make eye contact.

"Look, Toby. I'm sorry. I've wanted to tell you the moment that we met online. I knew who you were but how could I tell you? How would you have reacted if a grown man told you that he was your brother?" Dream took a shaky breath. "So when you told me about your dream-"

"Memory." Tubbo corrected.

"-memory. Sorry. When you told me about that, I knew it was time to tell you. And I knew it had to be in person. Look, I really am sorry. This has been eating me up inside for months now. I just..didn't know how to tell you. It looks like I didn't even have to. You figured it out yourself."

Tubbo's face was blank. No expression. Then he started talking.

"Oh is that true? Tell me something, Clay. Are you happy that I figured this out myself? Are you happy that you didn't have to be the one to break the news to me? So now you can't blame yourself, right? Cause I figured it out. I flipped my world upside down. But its your fault, it's your fault that I had to find out this way." Tubbo glared at Dream. 

The next thing that came out of Tubbo's mouth hurt him the most. 

"We could've kept in contact. I could've known about you. But you didn't try until I was already figuring it out. For the months I knew you, you kept it to yourself. Did you ever think, that maybe, not telling me did more harm than good?" Tubbo said.

Dream's ears were ringing. He had ruined this kid's life. Just like he thought he would.

"Look, Toby, I wanted to tell you. I really did. But I couldn't. I couldn't risk losing you forever."

Tubbo scoffed. "Oh so you kept the fact that we're brothers hidden from me. You do realize this changes everything, right? My dad isn't my dad anymore. My sisters have a new brother now, too. This changes everything I've ever known."

Dream felt his eyes filling with tears. He knew it would be bad, but not this bad.

"You know that part where you said you couldn't lose me forever?" Tubbo said. "Well, you just did."

Tubbo turned and walked upstairs. Dream let the tears fall. He pulled out his phone and texted George. He needed to get out of this house.

"Clay?" His mom asked.

Dream wiped his eyes. "I'm texting George. He'll be here soon."

"Oh, okay. Are you sure you don't want me to take you?" His mom asked.

"Im sure. I'm fine." Dream replied.

His mom walked around and sat in front of him, "No you aren't, Clay. Let me take you back, please."

Dream looked up from his phone, "No. I said I'm fine. Go talk to your son. He needs you more than I do."

His mom's face dropped. She pat his leg and stood up and walked up the stairs.

'hey come get me please.'

'okay.' George replied seconds later.

A minutes passed, and George was there.

Dream got up and walked out the front door.

"I was driving around the neighborhood. I didn't go home."

Dream got in the car slowly. "Just drive back to your house."

They drove in silence.


	18. chapter 17

Tubbo stared at his ceiling, tears running down the side of his face.

He kept thinking to himself that maybe he was too hard on Dream. Just a minute ago he came up here all angry and now he was crying. He was listening to the soft hum of his PC. Every few seconds he got a notification from Discord or Twitch.

Tubbo got up and walked to his window. His window faced the front of his house. Tubbo saw a car pull up to his house. A few seconds later Clay walked out and got into the car. The sight of his brother pained him.

A soft knock came from the door. 

"Toby?" It was his mom. "Hey, are you okay?"

Tubbo's sadness quickly turned to anger. He realized that it wasn't all Dream's fault. His mom kept this from him too.

"Toby, honey. Can I come in?" She asked.

He turned around and walked to his door. "No."

"No?" His mom sounded confused.

"You heard me. I said no." Tubbo's tears of sadness turned into tears of anger. "Don't act innocent, Mom. You knew about Clay. Yet you didn't tell me. 16 almost 17 years I've had a brother and didn't know. You could've told me."

"I know. I'm sorry."

That phrase was becoming a little too repetitive for Tubbo.

"You're sorry?" His tears felt hot on his skin. "Well that doesn't change anything, does it?"

His mom said, "No, but I'm still sorry."

"Bye, Mom. I want to be alone." Tubbo backed away from the door and sat on his bed.

His moms footsteps grew faint as she walked away. Tubbo let out a sigh and laid back down on his bed. Hours passed as he thought about what had happened. He couldn't bring himself to tell Tommy or anyone what happened. Tubbo rarely got angry, and when he did, he hated the aftermath. He hated explaining to people what happened. He didn't like reliving any moments that weren't his best.

Another knock came from his door.

"Mom, I said I want to be alone."

His door opened only it wasn't his mom that opened it.

"Tommy?"

Tubbo was worried that he was seeing things. He had been crying, and he had been laying on his bed for hours. Maybe he was dreaming?

"Yeah." Tommy said. His voice was softer, and more careful than usual. Like he was walking on eggshells. "Your mom told me everything."

"What? When?" Tubbo thought he would've known if Tommy were here.

Tommy met his eyes. "Your mom invited me. I got here about 30 minutes ago. She explained everything when I got here."

"Oh."

Well that's fine, at least I don't have to explain, Tubbo thought to himself.

"Can I give my input on the situation?" Tommy asked.

Tubbo shrugged. "Sure."

"Okay, well. I think you have the right to be mad. But I also think you shouldn't be mad forever."

He got caught on that word.

forever

The last thing he had said to dream was 'You know that part where you said you couldn't lose me forever? Well, you just did.'

Tubbo's heart filled with regret.

Tommy continued. "If I were you, I'd be mad too. But I'm not you, so I don't really fully understand how big this is. All I know if that you have to forgive them. Not now, but eventually. Trust me Toby, your mom sounded sorry. And I'm sure Dream feels bad too."

"Yeah, he did sound upset now that I think about it. I was just yelling at him. I think he was crying when he left." Tubbo said to Tommy - but mostly to himself.

Tubbo felt upset. Not at Dream or his mom- but at himself. He was still angry at them but he realized he went too far.

"Oh god." Tubbo said. "I have to tell him I'm sorry."

Tommy looked at Tubbo. "Yeah, but cool off first. You're still angry."

The more Tubbo thought about it, the more he realized that Tommy was right. He knew if he say dream again, he would be angry. He would most likely start yelling again. 

"You're right." He looked at Tommy and smiled.

He was glad to have a friend like him.

"Okay, come on. Let's go get something to eat." Tommy got up and gestured for Tubbo to follow him.

"As long as I get to chose where we go." Tubbo followed him out of the door.

notes: IM SORRY


	19. chapter 18

notes: i literally forgot about the first like 6 chapters omg theyre so bad- im sorry that you had to see those unorganized chapters. ALSO!!! some people have dmed me asking if they can make art for this story, AND OFC U CAN!!!! just credit me:))))) (i dont have twitter so ill only see it in insta or tiktok!)

Dream had tears running down his face the whole way back to George's house.

Once the pair got home, George tried to comfort Dream.

"Clay-" He was cut off by Dream pulling him into a hug.

Dream thought on instinct. He wrapped his arms around him and cried. George paused for a moment, but quickly hugged Dream back. The sound of Dream crying pained George.

"Hey, hey. It's okay." George trying his best to comfort him. "Tell me what happened."

Dream pulled away and sat down on the couch. "I-I don't know if I can say it without breaking down. It was worse than I thought." 

George left the room for a moment. He returned with a box of tissues. "It's okay."

Dream looked up at George. Dream thought he didn't deserve someone like him. Someone so caring, and willing to help.

"Tell me when you're ready." George said with a smile. "Don't rush yourself."

The two sat in silence for a moment. Dream wiped his eyes with the tissues George brought and calmed himself down.

"I'm ready." Dream croaked.

George nodded and got comfortable in his portion of the couch.

"I didn't do much talking," Dream sniffled. "He told me stuff that I had been thinking about myself. He was so honest it took me by surprise. Then I apologized and told him that I didn't want to lose him."

"Then what?" George asked.

"Then, he said I already did." Dreams eyes filled with tears again. 

He hated crying. It made him feel like he was useless. He was always the one helping people, he didn't like being the one who needed help. George knew this.

"It's okay, Clay. You can cry. George told him.

Dream let the tears fall. He didn't sob, but he felt like it. George sat with him and let him cry. He put his arm around him and rested his head on Dream's shoulder. They stayed there for a few minutes. During those minutes, George kept telling him it would be okay, and that Tubbo would come around. Dream doubted it.

George got up to go get them some food. "Do you wanna come?" he asked.

"No, I need to shower. But thanks." Dream replied.

"Okay. Just send me your order." George grabbed his keys and left.

The second he was gone, Dream's shoulders dropped. He took a few deep breaths and slowly got up. He walked over to his room and bathroom. He grabbed his bathroom supplies and got into the shower. He sent his order to George then opened Spotify. Dream tried to distract himself with a new playlist. All he could focus on was the last thing Tubbo said to him. His voice rang in Dream's ears.

'You know that part where you said you couldn't lose me forever? Well, you just did.'

Dream's heart ached. He couldn't think straight. He had lost someone he just found.

He finished his shower quickly. He thought a shower would help when really, it made things worse. Dream got into his bed and grabbed his phone. He had 3 new messages from Tommy.

'im with tubbo.'

'i think you guys need some sort of relationship. and like this, it wont happen.'

'im getting him to forgive you.'

Dream sat up in bed. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the messages again. He thought maybe he read them wrong. Nope. He read them right. A huge weight was lifted off of Dream's shoulders.

'tommy, i owe you one.' Dream sent.

George got back home with the food a few moments later.

"Dude, Tommy is amazing! He's with Tubbo right now getting him to forgive me." Dream told George.

"That's great! Heres your food by the way." George handed him his burger.

Dream ate his food quickly. 

"Want some fries?" George asked. "I have some and I'm not gonna finish them."

Dream looked up and grabbed the fries. "Thanks, man."

George smiled and walked over to the tv. He put on some show that Dream had never seen or heard of. The boys got up and went to sit on the couch. George made sure to tell Dream multiple times to be careful with the ketchup. After one episode, Dream was hooked to this show. The two watched late into the night.

"The finale..." George said.

"Bet you 100 dollars my prediction is right. He 100% did it." He told George.

George responded with a scoff. "Suuuuureee" 

They watched the episode in what felt like minutes. Realistically it was an hour.

"I knew it!" George yelled. "Told you he was innocent! Suck it green boy!"

They both burst out laughing. In between laughs Dream managed to get out a few words, "Really? Green boy?"

George nodded and started laughing even harder. After they had cooled down, Dream and George got up and decided to get some sleep.

"Night!" George said cheerfully, and walked into his room.

Dream had almost forgotten about what had happened a few hours prior. Almost.

His mood dropped. Dream crawled into bed and tried to get some sleep. 

He fell asleep thinking about Tubbo, and how he had screwed up with him.


	20. the end.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> its okay.

notes: last chapter......BUT DONT WORRY! IM MAKING ANOTHER STORY AND POSTING THE FIRST CHAPTER RIGHT AFTER I POST THIS ONE!!!

Tubbo sat across from Tommy at their favorite ice cream shop. They both ordered their favorites; chocolate and vanilla. Both with rainbow sprinkles.

Tommy had taken him there to help calm Tubbo's nerves. The silence was beginning to ruin their appetites.

"So, Tommy."

"So, Tubbo."

Tubbo laughed. "Do you have any ideas on how I could forgive him? Because I want to. i don't want to be mad at him. I got my anger that I had out. I don't want to be mad anymore."

Tommy looked up from his ice cream. "Well he told you today, like a few hours ago. It's okay to be mad for a bit. He leaves in a week. You have time."

"How do you know when he leaves?" Tubbo asked.

"George told me." Tommy took another bite of his ice cream. "He texted your mom about inviting me. Then she told me everything, and who told her to get me."

"Well you didn't tell me that at first." Tubbo looked down.

"Yeah, cause you didn't need to know that I'm conspiring with the enemy." Tommy said in an exaggerated pirate accent.

Tubbo smiled. "Whatever."

The two finished their ice cream in comfortable silence. Once they threw away their cups, they hopped back into the car.

"Let's just drive for a bit." Tubbo suggested.

Tommy nodded. "Sure."

The drove around watching the town go by. They listened to Wilburs album, though neither of them wanted to admit how much they liked it. They talked about normal stuff. Both of them stayed away from the topic 'family'. They discussed new video ideas, and lore stream that they had planned. They just talked, enjoying each others company. Hours passed. They finished Wilburs album and played some old song that they both enjoyed.

"Wanna head to your house now?" Tommy asked.

Tubbo nodded.

They drove back to his house and walked up to his room. 

"I'm staying the night." Tommy said.

"Bt you don't have a bag?"

"Yeah I do." He grabbed a bag from behind the door and waved it around. "I'm prepared, mate."

Tubbo laughed. "Wow."

The two went to sleep. Well, Tommy went to sleep. Tubbo stayed up thinking about how he hurt Dream. He was tempted to text him. He grabbed his phone and scrolled to Georges contact.

'is dream staying with u' he sent.

'yes.' George replied quickly.

'whats ur address' Tubbo sent without thinking.

George sent his address. Tubbo sat up in bed. He really sent it.

"Tubbo?" Tommy asked. "Go to bed idiot its 3 am."

Tubbo slowly laid back down. "Okay."

*next morning*

"Dude. Wake up!" Tommy shook Tubbo awake. "Did you tell George that I was going to drive you to his house today?"

"Huh? No." Tubbo was confused. He wanted to go but he didn't tell him that he was.

"Well you have his address don't you?"

Tubbo nodded.

"He thinks you're coming."

"Well I want to go but I never said that I was going..."

Tommy face changed to a confused expression. "You want to go?"

"Yeah but-"

"Well then get up, let's go. Come one." Tommy said.

Tubbo didn't register what happened. "Okay."

He got dressed and brushed his hair and teeth. He grabbed his shoes and followed into his car. Next thing you know, Tubbo was standing in front on George's door, knocking on it.

Dream answered. "Tubbo?"

Tubbo froze. "Uh. Hi?"

"Um, come in."

The two of them sat in very very uncomfortable silence.

"So.." George said.

Tommy and George sat on the opposite sides of the couch, leaving Tubbo and Dream in between them.

"I'm sorry." Tubbo blurted out.

"Why are you sorry?" Dream asked. "I should be sorry. I kept this from you and I shouldn't have. It wasn't fair on my part. So I'm sorry."

"But I yelled at you, and only you. You didn't deserve that. It wasn't only your fault."

Tubbo started tearing up.

"Tubbo, It is my fault. I could've kept contact but I didn't." Dream said.

Tubbo looked up as a tear fell from his eyes. "I said stuff to you I didn't mean. I said awful shit tat you didn't deserve to hear."

Dream's expression softened. "It's okay."

Tubbo stood up and walked in front of Dream. He stood there for a moment before he Oulled him into a hug.

"I'm so sorry." He said.

Dream hugged him back. "It's okay."

"It's okay."


End file.
